| Date Span: | 1980-1993 |
| Creator: | Des Moines BirthPlace |
| Extent: | 2.75 linear feet. |
| Collection Number: | IWA0195 |
| Repository: | Iowa Women's Archives |
| Summary: | The first licensed birth center in Iowa, specializing in nurse-midwifery. |
The Des Moines BirthPlace, an out-of-hospital birth center specializing in nurse-midwifery services, was established by Womancare, Inc., in 1984 and became Iowa's first licensed birth center. During the eight years of its existence, 274 babies were born at the center. The center offered routine gynecological exams, pregnancy counseling, prenatal care, childbirth classes, labor and delivery facilities and postpartum care. It provided a place where women could give birth in a homelike setting.
A certified nurse midwife (CNM) and a registered nurse attended each birth with a physician providing twenty-four-hour medical backup should a complication arise. Concern for safety at a facility outside a hospital tempered the medical community's support of BirthPlace. The center closed in 1992 when its backup physician no longer had sufficient time to provide his service.
When the Des Moines BirthPlace opened in 1984 it became part of a nationwide network of birth centers. In 1975 the Maternity Center Association (MCA) had opened the first childbearing center in the nation in New York City. By 1979 the need for a communication network to provide information about establishing and operating birth centers became apparent. Two years later, in May 1981, the John A. Hartford Foundation awarded a grant to MCA to develop a cooperative network, the Cooperative Birth Center Network (CBCN), "to assist and support the development and accessibility of safe, cost-efficient birth alternatives, with particular attention to the out-of-hospital birth center."
The second phase in developing a national support system for freestanding birth centers was inaugurated in May 1983 with the establishment of the National Association of Childbearing Centers (NACC). Like its predecessors, NACC is devoted to providing guidelines, standards, licensure, reimbursement, public information and direct assistance to operating centers. The group also collects data, disseminates information, provides consultations and offers workshops.
Access: The records are open for research. Researchers wishing to view the Patient Evaluation forms in box 7 must first sign the "Conditions Of Access To The Patient Evaluation Records" form. [Staff: kept in donor file.]
Use: Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa.
Acquisition: The records (donor no. 276) were donated by Dana Ericson in 1995 and succeeding years.
Preferred Citation: Des Moines BirthPlace records, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.
| Repository: | Iowa Women's Archives |
| Address: | 100 Main Library University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242 |
| Phone: | 319-335-5068 |
| Curator: | Kären Mason |
| Email: | lib-women@uiowa.edu |
| Website: | http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa |
Browse by Series:
Series 1: ADMINISTRATIVE FILES
Series 2: LEGAL DOCUMENTS
Series 3: FINANCIAL RECORDS
Series 4: NATIONAL BIRTH CENTERS
Series 5: PHOTOGRAPHS
Series 6: RESTRICTED: See staff member.
This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.
